Cross-feed for cigar bunch machines



Sept. 14, 1943. H. A. BURNS 2,329,183

CROSS FEED FOR CIGAR BUNCH MACHINES Filed May 31, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

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INVENTOR HERBERT A.BURNS W T'i'oRNE-V Sept. 14, 1943. H. A. BURNS 1 2,329,183

CROSS FEED FOR CIGAR BUNCH MACHINES Filed May 31, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 14, 1943 2329,183 I I V ROSS-FE D FOR CIGAR BUNCH MACHIN a 1 Herbert A. Burns, Forest Hills, N. Y .,lassignor to 7 International Cigar Machinery Company, a

' ..corpcration ofv New Jersey 1 Application May 31', 1940"Serial. r 8,1 56 a I I 1 Claim. (01.131 81 v This invention relates to an improved cigar filler tobacco feed, and morev particularly to the construction of the fillerieeding, channel thereof.

Hitherto, cigar filler feed h nn ls have. been equipped with parallel opposed walls. With parallel walls in a cigar filler feed/channel. particufully described andthen specificallyset .f orth larly when employed to form a wide,', shallow' streamof cigar filler, the lengths delivered from the cross feed would be of non u'nifqrm thick.- ness acrosstlieir width, thus. causing soft. or low spots in th filler column, which impair th uniformity of the bunch charge, subsequently sebare one of the cause for the uneven burning-oi cigars Another disadvantage exists in the 'making of smalldian etcr cigars with' the standard wide parallel crossfeed, where toothin a charge is required to handle well.

. A'further. disadvantage of. the parallel walled cigar filler feeding channel wa that wherev the operator of-the machine did nct. fill out the sides of the channelnear the vertical belts withcig'ar filler, no means existed to. cor-rect this uneven filling, and'bunch charges ofu'nequal thickness would subsequently be separated from the filler asaresult.

2 One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a means fcr eliminating thethinn'ss Of the cigar filler near th side walls of the feed channel. due in partto theiten'dency oian operator to distribute more filler in the center of the channel feed than near the side, walls of the channel. This object is. particularly important when considered in connection with thee?- plication of'Henry H. WheeIenSer; No; 30 1.299, filed November 14, 11939, on which Patent No. 2,311,011 was issued February 16, 1943., where the accumulations of the cut cigar filler ar made one above the other. Therethe error of uneven thickness rapidly increases in constantly having the thin sided" and thick centered filler lengths accumulate one above the other; resulting in a recurring lack'of uniformity, particularly softer iow ,spots'in the bunch charges eventually separated, fromthe assembled filler'lengths.

Another object of the invention is to provide I an improved manner for making cigar filler lengths of uniform density and the elimination of soft or low spots in bunch chargeseventually separatedirom the filler.

. A furtherobject of the invention is to pm.

vidc an proved means for theunl-iorm' densifying of the thinfi-llercharge required in making small diameter cigars and for feeding a low 001 umn of filler which will be formed into higher columns of cut fillerlengths.

With these and other objects not specifically mentioned in view, the invention consists in certain constructions and combinations hereinafter the o.perator l V V 4 'is a diagrammatic cross sectional view;

the claim hereuntoappended.

. In. the accompanying drawingswhichiorm part of this specification and in which likef'characters of reference indicate the same orflihe parts:

Fig. 1 is a plan view ofthe improved cigar" filler feeding channel; .1 Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the s f ,e';

' Fig. 3 isa diagrammaticicross'se'ctional vi'ew, on the line 3 -3 of Fig. 1, of the broader part of the improved j channel showing the usual shape of the cigar fillerj at this part'when inserted by on the line if of .l, ofthenarrowerpart of the improved channel showing the evenr dis tribution of thecigarfiller'when it arrives at the cutters, with certain parts oinitted;

filler lengths in'a vertical column, shcwingfthe charge, sep rating knifeancl supporting fingers in. an inoperative position Fig. 6 is arside" elevation bf the'same shqwing the charge separatin'ghnife and supporting fin-g gers in an operative positio-n prior to cutting the Fig. 'Ilis a side. elevation ofthe same subsequentto cutting'the filler length and the rais ing of the out lengthverticallyin the column.

Iii-carrying the invention into effect there'is' provildedaplurality of feed belts arranged to form a cigar fillerfeeding' channel, the vertical sidewalls of saidchannel being spaced, opposed;

and converging toward one another'in the direction'iof tl 1e 'cutters. The said converging side wall belts are supported'by means preventing thein' from bending outward because, of pressure by the fil'l'ergwithin the'channel, There is provid ed mechanism for driving said beltsand vertical means for guidingfand'compacting the filler in thechannel. r In the best forms of construction contemplate ed, said side wallbelts begin converging at a certain constant ra'te toward the cutters from the broadest end of the channel; The said'side walls may alsobe arranged to converge'from'a-ny 'point between the end opposite to the cutters and the point where the cigar filler is cut in desired lengths; The said; side walls may alsoxbe a1" v ranged toconverge from any point between the end "opposite to the cutters and some point short of wherethe cigar'filler ;is cut indesired lengths. Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, the frame 10- supports cross bars ll which carry a feed table l2, the frame 19 also carrying a feed belt I3, and one end of the converging feed belts I4 and I5. Abracket I8 integral with the frame l0 supports the other ends of the converging a feed belts associatedwith mechanism for accumulating cut fulcrum stud I9. I

The filler tobacco is placed in the tapered filler feeding channel formed by the horizontal feed belts l4 and I5, and the pedestal mounted on the frame In supports the cam shaft l8 and the belt |3 and the two converging vertical feed belts V position preparatory to the repetition of the cycle l4 and IS. The horizontal belt I3 is supported by pulleys 23, 2| and 22, and adjustable pulley 23,

mounted on the frame I0. tical side wall belts I4 and are supported by The converging ver-' 1o pulleys24 and 25 mounted on the frame If), and by flanged pulleys 25 and 21 carried on the adjustable slide 28 on the end of bracket IS. The

horizontal belt is driven through a sprocket 29' on a shaft 30, andthe converging vertical belts H and I5 are driven by bevel gears 3| which mesh with bevel gears 32 on shaft 3311, the bevel gears 3| beingfixed on the shaft of the pulleys 24 and 25., The sprocket 29 on shaft is driven by a chain 33, theother end of which runs over a sprocket'on shaft 30a. which is intermittently driven by suitable. means such as shown in the patent to Bronander, No. 1,740,571, granted December 24, 1929.

The filler tobacco, L progressively placed in the tapered feed channel formed by the horizontal feed belt I3 and the convergingside' wall belts I4 and I5 is intermittently advanced andpasses between a set of stationary guides 34'and, under a leaf guide plate 35 and compacterjplate 36 on which the leaf guide. is hinged and under means 31 for compacting thefiller vertically; f

Figs. 3 and 4,.which are diagrammatic cross section views of Fig. 1 on. the lines 3 --3 and v |--4 respectively, show the cigar filler before it has been subjected to the .action of the converge ing belts l4 and I5 and after the cigar filler has been subjected to the converging action of belts M and 5 respectively. In passing. from the out er part of the channel towards the cutte'rs, .the

width of the cigar filler is gradually narrowed byconverging belts Hand ..|5 forming a'filler delivered to thecutters of uniform thickness, and the'elimination of soft or low spots in bunch charges eventually separated from the filler.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the manner in which the cut filler lengths are accumulated vertically. With the cutting platform 38, as shown in Fig. 6, in its lowermost position, the tobacco layer L is advanced onto the same by the feed belts l3, l4

and IS. The movable upper corrugated knife 39 is then lowered to firmly hold the filler tobacco, whereupon the cutting platform 38 with an at tachedlower corrugated knife 40 is raisedinto an intermediate position, thereby cutting off the advanced tobacco layer L thereon. Then the fingers 4| are withdrawn from the position in which they supported the surplus tobacco from the pre ceding cycle to their outermost position, as shown in Fig. 5, thereby dropping this surplus tobacco on top of the cut layer on the cutting platform thus forming a tobacco column F on the same. Cutting platform 38 then completes its up stroke lifting'column F up against insert plate 42 which is part of a transfer pocket, as disclosed in the above mentioned Wheeler application Ser. No. 304,299, thereby raising said insert plate 42. into top position, as shown in Fig.7 which limit-s the thickness of charge F to be cut.

The oscillating knife blade 44 moves forward to sever charge F in the transfer pocket. The supporting fingers 4| then move into their in posi- I set forth above.

tion so as to register with the slot ways 43 in the now raised cutting platform 38, as shown in Fig. 7. Cutting platform 38 then returns to its down position leaving the cut filler lengths F on the interposed fingers 4|, as shown in Fig. 6, and the upper corrugated knife 39 returns to its up The feed control mechanism controlling the operation of the abovemembers is the same as that mentioned in, the Wheeler application referred to above. \Vhen the accumulated tobacco column F is of sufficient magnitude, this mechanism provides for temporarily stopping the feeding of additional filler onto the cutting platform, until such time as additional filler is required in column F.

The present construction, while it has other uses, in its preferred embodiment described is employedin a cross feed for feeding a tobacco stream crosswise of the main feed of a cigar machine, as shown in the above mentioned application of Wheeler, and operates to correct the tendency of the operator to put'more filler in the center of the channel than near the side by means ofconverging side walls whereby the thin edge of the filler is telescoped sidewise making the filler of uniform thickness and density thereby eliminating soft orlow" spots from the The present invention enables cigar fillerto be fed into a broad channel in thin layers and by gradual compacting forms this thin broad. layer into a thicker filler layer of uniform density particularly desirable in making small size cigars. j v

It should be noted that while it is ordinarily easier for the operator to feed the filler tobacco in a thin broad layer, this has the disadvantage that any variation from normal in the thickness of the layer fed by the operator tends to bear a rather high ratio to normal thickness. When this broad layer is compacted sidewise into a narrower layer, these variations are decreased and moreover any remaining form asmaller perout departing from the spirit of the invention,

or the scope of the subjoined claim..

What is claimed is:

In a cigar machine, the combination with a plurality of feed belts arranged to form a filler feeding channel, mechanism for; driving said belts, a transverse cutter adjacent one end of said belts, said belts being arranged to grad ually converge toward said ,cutter to compress said filler laterally to make the lateral sides of the filler of the same density as the center of the filler, means constructed and arranged to assemble lengths of filler cut by said cutter vertically with the upper surface of one length in contact with the bottom surface of another [HERBERT A. BURNS. 

